


To Love a Ninja: Donatello's Story

by LibraryRose



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Other, Reader-Insert, Self-Insert, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-03-24 09:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13808268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryRose/pseuds/LibraryRose
Summary: Your mentor is gone, kidnapped by the Kraang. When you are mutated into a turtle, you are taken in by the fabled Ninja Turtles. You've chosen Donatello to guard you day and night, at least until the retro-mutagen can be formulated.Donatello: Intelligent and as strong as a Mountain.He’s Logical, kind and spends too much time working in his lab. He’ll challenge everything you know about weakness and strength, for beneath his gentle nature lurks the heart of a true warrior. And as you start to fall for him, you stand to lose more than just your mentor.And as the saying goes: Love is the most powerful emotion, and that makes it the most dangerous





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

**The Prologue**

* * *

You woke up in an unfamiliar place with your hands bound together at your wrists, suspended by a meat hook over a vat of glowing green stuff. Your first instinct was to try and wriggle yourself free but you fought against it, hanging the air was a lot better than falling into whatever that green crap was. You decided to calm yourself by recounting the events that lead you to your current situation.

That night you had been snooping around your mentor’s office, looking for clues about his mysterious disappearance. He was one of many scientists to go missing in the past month, and when you called the police they basically told you to shove off with their token answer of “we’ll look into it”.

Unable to wait for the cops, you decided to investigate on your own, which lead your mentor’s lab where you were attacked and captured by several armed robots. You stood no chance of escaping even if you did know how to fight, which you didn’t. You took a blow to the back of the head and passed out.

That explained being tied up but not the green vat of glowing liquid beneath you. The swirling hues of blue and green captured your attention, it was soothing in a way, like a lava lamp. You shook away that thought, what were you thinking? That stuff was probably as acidic as it smelled. You tried to move but your body wouldn’t respond which told you that you’d been hanging there for quite a long time.

“Sorry, professor.” You said. “I really wanted to help you.” You said. The professor had been like a father to you since you’d come to know him three years ago. You were fascinated by his teachings and decided to apprentice under him, follow in his footsteps. You wanted to help people, cure them, and do something good for humanity. So much for that dream.

“Kraang, tell Kraang that the one called _____ is in the state known as being awake.” You heard a robotic voice say. Glancing around you found the source of the voice, it had come from one of the two robots, standing beside the vat of green stuff.

“Let me go, you overgrown tin cans!” you yelled and the Kraang bots, as you cleverly called them, drew two odd looking guns and aimed them at you. You swallowed against the lump in your throat, perhaps name-calling wasn’t the best way to handle your situation. “Or you know, I can totally hang around if you want.”  

“If you can make lame jokes then I guess your fine.” You heard as a new person entered the room, you felt a sense of relief as you recognized them. It was Irma, a girl you knew from school, she was always hanging around with April and Casey.

“Irma! Thank god, help me.” You said and it dawned on you that if Irma was your savior then surely the Kraang bots would be bothered by her presence.  

“Help you?” Irma said, “No, you have it backwards. You are going to help me.” She said. “You are going to help me destroy the Ninja Turtles.

“What? Are you crazy? The Ninja Turtles? They are a myth.”  You said. “You honestly think there are humanoid turtles running around protecting the city?” You said. “Next you’re gonna tell me that there’s a giant alligator living in the sewers.” you scoffed.

“It doesn’t matter what you believe because you are going to help me whether you want to or not.” Irma said.

“Why the hell would I help you?” you asked and without missing a beat Irma’s body unfolded like one of those paper fortunetellers, revealing her true form. In the center of her robot body was a pink brain, like the ones sitting inside the other robots.

“I am Kraang Prime, the ultimate life form and I will compensate you for your cooperation.” He said.

“No way!” you struggled, even if the turtles weren’t real, you knew that they were the good guys, you weren’t about to help the enemy. “Nothing you can offer me will make me help you.”

“Is that so? What if I offer to return your mentor to you?” He said and it struck a nerve with you. The professor helped you when no one else would, you basically owed him your life. What could you do but agree?

“Fine.” You said "What do I have to do?" You asked.

"That's the easy part.” Kraang said then turned toward the two robots next to him. “Add the turtle DNA to the formula.” He said.

You watched as one of the Kraang bots added some sort of serum to the green stuff you were hanging over. When it was done, Kraang Prime yanked a lever protruding from a computer next to the vat and you began to descend toward the green stuff.

“Hey, can we talk about this.” You said. “don't you think I will do a better job if I am alive?”

“Don't worry, we aren't going to kill you.” Kraang Prime said. “Though, this process will make you want to die.” He laughed and watched with joy as you were submerged.   

It had the consistency of Jell-O only it ate away at your body like acid. You screamed, allowing the green stuff to find its way into your mouth where it made its way into your lungs. There you were caught between drowning and being burned alive, and you felt like your whole body was being ripped to shreds.

After a few moments the pain began to subside and found that the rope that had previously bound you had disintegrated and you were able to swim to the top of the vat. You pulled yourself over the rim and were sent tumbling to the ground at Kraang’s feet. 

You coughed up what remained of the green stuff and pushed yourself up off the ground.

No! You changed your mind, your mentor had always told you to fight for what was right. He wouldn’t want to be saved at the cost of you losing yourself.

Kraang looked down at you and smiled, and you instantly hated that smile. Adrenaline coursed through your body and you jammed an elbow into Kraang’s pink face. He squealed and fell back, giving you a chance to run, which you gladly took.

“After that them!” you heard Kraang prime say but something in that green stuff must have done something to you, you felt light on your feet and stronger. Spurred on by this fact you made your way out of the warehouse and through the streets of New York.  You hurried through alley ways and familiar back streets in order to lose the Kraang bots that were after you.

After a few moments, once you were sure you had lost them you slumped against a wall behind a dumpster. With the adrenaline rush over you couldn’t find the energy to move anymore. Hopefully you’d be safe until you woke again.

Then the world went black.

* * *

 “Hey, guys look.” You heard a faint voice between your bouts of consciousness. “It’s a mutant turtle.” Said the voice.

“Are they alive?” asked another voice, this one dripping with authority

 “I think so.” The first voice said.

 “Mikey, don’t touch them.” Another voice, this one was gentler than the others.

 “Let’s bring them back to the lair” the voice belonging to Mikey said

 At this point you were coherent enough to push yourself up off the ground. You glanced around and discovered that you were in the middle of an alleyway surrounded by, four mutant turtles. You couldn’t believe it. It was them, they did exist. “The Ninja Turtles.” You said.

 “How do you know about us?” the authoritarian turtle asked, his eyes were cautious and you could tell he wouldn’t settle for anything less than the truth.

“There are rumors floating around about you guys but no one believes them.” You said. “I didn’t… at first. I mean come on, four crime-fighting humanoid turtles. It’s a little ridiculous.”

 “Ridiculous?” the red banded turtle, who hadn’t said a word since you woke up Said.  “You’re one to talk.” 

 “What does that mean?” you asked, bristling at the challenging air he was giving off. You pointed at him, insult at the ready but it died in your throat when you noticed the shade of your skin. Your arm was green and scaly, you followed the length of your arm back toward your body and shot to your feet. In addition to your green arms you had two legs to match and a vibrant unmarred plastron.

Your breath began to quicken as you ran a hand around to your back to feel a hard substance. Oh no. You ran toward a window in the alley and caught your reflection. You touched your face. You were half turtle and half human.   “I’m a… I’m a turtle.” You said.

“You mean you didn’t know?” the gentle voice asked, his worry filled eyes hidden beneath a purple mask.

“No, this isn’t right. What the heck was in that stuff?” you felt a panic run through you, everything crashed in around you, your lost mentor, the transformation, the discovery of the Ninja Turtles. You felt dizzy and before another moment passed you fainted, but not before you heard the blue banded turtle say.

“Nice going, Raph.”

* * *

When you woke up, you discovered that you were on a sofa in the middle of an abandoned subway station. Everything about the place felt homey, welcoming and warm, well, except for the smell.

 Suddenly, the sofa dipped behind you and you turned to see the only turtle you could identify, “Mikey.” The way he was smiling seemed to make you feel secure. Like you could let all of your stress melt away. 

“How’d you guess my name?” he asked.

“I heard the blue turtle say it.” You said.

“Mikey, give them some space.” Speak of the devil.

“Sorry about that.” Said the turtle in blue. “I know this is a lot to take in but you don’t have to worry, we’re the good guys. We’ll help you.” He said. “My name is Leonardo.”

“Leo-nardo.” You tested his name on your lips and he smiled. “The red turtle, as you would put it, is Raphael.” He said, “He’s got something he wants to say to you.” Leonardo said, but the tone of his voice told you there was a threat hidden behind his words.

Raphael grumbled and came forward. “Sorry.” He said but you didn’t remember him doing anything that he needed to apologize for. Still you accepted his apology with a nod.

“Hi, I’m Donatello.” The purple banded turtle said. “Am I right to assume that, given the fact that you didn’t realize that you were a turtle, you were once human?” Donatello asked.

“Yeah. Then I fell into this green Jell-O stuff and when I woke up I was like this.” You said, unsure of just how much to tell them. Would they help you if they knew that Kraang had done this to you or would they assume you were up to something. You couldn't risk it so you didn't disclose any more.

 “Fascinating.” He said and you were kind of put off by it but ignored it, he was obviously “Fascinated” for science reasons. “Well, don’t worry, I am working on a retro-mutagen, it should change you back.” He said. That was good to hear.

“Nice to meet you all. My name is ____.”  you said 

“Well, _____ welcome to our humble home.” You turned around to see another mutant, this one was a rat, and looking into his eyes you could see just how wise this one was. “My name is Hamato, Yoshi.” He gave a bow. “You may call me Splinter.”

“Hello, Splinter.” You said then turned toward Donatello. “How long will the retro-mutagen take?” you asked, you wanted to be human again as soon as possible.

Donatello rubbed his hand over the back of his smooth head, he was wearing a guilty look. “It’s still in the early stages of development.”

“How early?” you asked.

“Research.” He admitted.

You felt your heart drop at that simple word. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t go home like this.” You said. “I’ll be locked up, or worse! Experimented on.” The panic in your voice cause each of the turtles to take a step toward you. You could only guess that they knew what you were feeling. You felt guilty for panicking when they were probably stuck in turtle form indefinitely.

“Calm yourself.” Splinter said. “I suggest that you stay here with us until we can deal with your situation.” He said. “That is, if you want to.”

“Thank you for your kind offer.” You said, “But I don’t think…” you trailed off as something crossed your mind. The turtles could change you back and then you could work on rescuing your mentor.  “Okay.” You said.

“Good, then one of my sons will be assigned to watch over you.” He said and you got the feeling that he expected you to pick one. You turned toward the four turtles.

Leonardo watch you stoically but seemed to be eager to help.

Mikey was practically jumping up and down to get your attention.

Donatello was looking at you the way your mentor looked at one of his test subjects.

Raphael had his arms crossed over his plastron, seemingly annoyed with the whole thing.

“I choose…”


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**The First Chapter**

* * *

“I choose…” you hesitated under the expectant gazes of each turtle, your eyes shifted from one to the other. This was too much pressure. How were you supposed to pick one of them to protect you when you weren’t even sure you could trust them?

Okay, so most of the rumors concerning the turtles were good, they were seen as heroes. But, that was exactly the problem because when it came to their enemies the Turtles were rumored to be absolutely ruthless.

You weren’t exactly an enemy, you did, ultimately, changed your mind about helping Kraang. Though, that didn’t change the fact that you’d been mutated to suit Kraang’s crazy “Destroy the Ninja Turtles” agenda. You began to wonder if the turtles would still help you if they found out about your connection to Kraang.

You were struck by the possibility of them retracting their assistance, of never being human again. It was chilling to think that you would have to spend the rest of your life in the sewers, in the dark, all alone. Worse than that, was the thought that you’d never be able to rescue your mentor.

You vision blurred and the room began to spin. Oh no, you were going to faint again. Your body gave out and the ground started coming closer, but you never felt its impact. Instead, Donatello caught you in his arms and scooped you up bridal style. You tried to fight the urge to sleep, catching a bits of the conversation that followed.

“Is ____ going to be okay?” Michelangelo’s asked, his voice coated in worry.

“Yes, Mikey.” Donatello soothed. “Probably, just a side effect of the mutation process.”

“In any case, Donatello, I think it prudent to leave _____ in your care.” You heard Splinter say before finally losing your battle with sleep.

* * *

The savory aroma of marinara, cheese and pepperoni mingled together in the dangerous dance know as pizza. It drew you from your slumber, like you were a bear coming out of hibernation. You sat up, discovering that you were lying on a cot behind a drawn medical curtain. You decided that Donatello must’ve carried you here after you blacked out.

You sighed with disappointment, the last thing you wanted to do was be a burden on the turtles, or give them a reason not to help you. And yet, you’d managed to faint in front of them…Twice. Ugh. Well, there wasn’t anything you could do about it now. Besides there was a more pressing matter to attend to; finding that pizza.

You pulled the curtain back and saw Donatello sitting at his computer, typing away, you marveled at how fast his fingers moved, given there were only six of them. You would have been content to watch him all night, but your stomach had other plans. A rather loud growl escaped from your gut and you blushed as it caused Donatello to stare at you.

“Oh, you’re up.” He said, giving you a kind smile. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “Other than hungry, of course.” He added, was this his way of teasing you?

“Better.” You said, “I’m not sure what came over me.”

“Your blood sugar was really low.” He said, making his way over to you. “Sorry, I took a sample of your blood while you were sleeping, I know that’s invasive but I had to make sure that the mutation process wasn’t going to change you any further.”

“It’s alright.” You said, under those circumstances at least.

“Turns out you fainted from a lack of nutrition.” He said, shining a light in your eyes to test your pupal dilation. “When was the last time you ate something?”

“I haven’t eaten all day.” You admitted, “I got caught up searching for my mentor, he went missing a few days ago.” Your stomach growled again. “By the way, was it my imagination or did I smell…” You were cut off when Michelangelo burst through the lab doors, balancing a pizza box in one hand.

“Pizza!” Michelangelo exclaimed.

“Mikey!” Donatello shouted, “Don’t just burst in here, you almost gave me a heart attack.” He said.

“Sorry, D. I just thought that Neo-Turtle might be hungry when they woke up.” He said, crossing the room to join you and Donatello.

“Neo-Turtle?” you asked, “Is that me?”

“Yep, took me a little while to come up with it, but I think it’s pretty badass.” Michelangelo said.

“Mikey likes to name our allies and enemies, you don’t have to answer to it.” Donatello explained.

“It’s okay, I kinda like it, sounds futuristic.” You said, and besides it made you feel included to know that Michelangelo thought of you, hopefully, as an ally.

“I knew you’d like it.” He said.

“Alright, Mikey, I was in the middle of Neo- I mean ______’s checkup. Could you please excuse us?”

“Oh, sure. No problem D.” Michelangelo turned to leave and your heart sank, he was going to take the pizza away with him. Oh, true love, you hardly knew it.

“Oh, and Mikey.” Donatello said, stopping the orange clad turtle in his tracks.

“Yeah, D?”

“Leave the pizza.” You smiled, Donatello, would make a fine guardian, indeed.

Half an hour later, pizza devoured and checkup complete, you sat cross-legged on the cot while Donatello mused over everything you’d revealed to him (leaving out any mention of the Kraang, of course). “You mentioned that your mentor went missing. Is he, by any chance, a scientist?”

You perked up. “Yes. A biochemist. Do you know something?”

“Well, my brothers and I have been investigating, someone is kidnapping scientist all over the city, we’ve run out of leads though." Your face dropped, if the turtles couldn’t save your mentor, then what chance did  _you_  have?

“Hey, don’t worry.” Donatello said, placing a gentle hand on your knee. “We’ll save your mentor and the other scientists.” He gave a pause “Actually, we could really use your help.”

“Mine? Why? I’m not a ninja, I don’t even have time to exercise.”

“Be that as it may, you are the apprentice of a biochemist, your knowledge would be a huge addition.” He said “I’m pretty good with biology but my forte is mostly mechanical and technical.”

You beamed with pride at the prospect of being useful and you felt honored that Donatello would give you that much credit. “I’m still learning but I’ll help you in any way I can.”

“I’m glad you see it that way.” He grinned so ominously that you regretted your words instantly.

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you want to sneak into the biochemical lab!” you whispered harshly at Donatello as you stood on the outskirts of the university.

“It’s the most advanced Biochemical lab in the city.” He explained, as if that made it okay.

“That’s my point. It’s heavily guarded by a state of the art surveillance system.” You said. “There’s no way we are getting in there unseen.”

“Getting in is the easy part.” He said, “All we have to do is cut the power for a few moments.”

“Sure, that might get us into the science building but what about the door to the lab? It runs on a backup system that is impossible to get around.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing that I have a key.” He said.

“There are no keys, it’s an electronic lock, and it requires a code...” You trailed off as you realized what he meant. You were his key. “Oh, no.” you said. “No way. I can’t. They monitor the entry logs, if I go in there when the lab is in backup mode, they’ll know it was me, I will lose my apprenticeship.”

“Not if I wipe the logs clean.” He said, but you weren’t convinced, your apprenticeship was all you had. Donatello grabbed you by the shoulders, forcing you to look into his eyes, beneath those reddish brown orbs you saw a raging fire. “You’ll be okay. Trust me.” Your resolve crumbled under his strength and you gave in.

“Good. Follow my lead.” He whispered before hurrying through the quad, keeping to the shadows so well that you nearly lost sight of him. Follow his lead? Yeah right. You did your best to follow the path he’d taken and caught up to him, the science building was just across the street. Unfortunately, there were no more shadows to keep you covered.

“Guards.” Donatello pointed toward two men on the roof, they were carrying semi-automatic guns with laser guided sights. “A bit heavy for a university science building.” He said.

“Yeah, that’s not normal.” You said.

“I’ll say.” He said. “Those are members of the EPF.”

“EPF?” you asked.

“Earth Protection Force, a covert branch of the government specializing in extra-terrestrial activity.” Donatello said. “I wonder what they are doing here.” He mused, “Only one way to find out.”

“Are you crazy!” you said, “Look at us, we are mutant turtles, if I worked for alien hunters anonymous I would shoot us on sight.”

“Then, we’ll have to be careful and grateful that you aren’t one of them.” Your face dropped, was that supposed to be funny? “Cutting the power is out of the question now. They’ll be prepared for something like that and we don’t want to tip them off.”

“You said it yourself, it’s a good thing that you have the key.” You grinned, “I know the code to the security system too.” You announced.

“Why didn't you say that earlier?” he asked.

“Because I’m not supposed to know the code, forget my apprenticeship, if I get caught shutting off the security code I’ll go to federal prison.” You admitted, then came to a decision, “But now, it’s worth the risk to know what these guys are up to.”

A few moments later the two of you made it around to the back entrance of the science hall, there were no guards there, which made sense because the security pad was tucked away, only a few people knew how to access it. Luckily, the EPF wasn’t in the know.

“Are you ready?” Donatello asked and you could tell he was worried about the prospect of you getting shot.

“Yeah.” You said, solidifying your voice to ease his mind. “I got this.”

“Okay. I’ll cover you.” He drew forth his bo staff and gave it a spin.

You made your way to the door and felt around for a small slit in the door jamb, finding it, you pulled a thin keypad free of its confines and punched in the code. The light above the door’s handle flashed from red to green and you gave Donatello a thumbs up.

He ran to your side, tucking his bo back into its sleeve. “Good work.” He said, placing a hand on your shoulder. The warmth of his touch and his praise made your heart do cartwheels in your chest.

The two of you hurried through the darkened halls, making your way to the biochemistry lab. When you arrived you made short work of the lock and stepped inside, Donatello right behind you. Everything was just as it had been when you’d last saw it, six hours ago, right before you were ambushed by the Kraang.

Donatello gently pushed passed you, in awe at the lab in which he now found himself. “This lab is amazing.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” You said, anxiety creeping up on you. “S-So why are we here, exactly?” you asked, it occurred to you that you’d never acquired that bit of information before all of this started.  

“Your mentor’s notes.” He said. “Where are they stored?”

“On that computer, over there.” You said, pointing to one of the three terminals that occupied the room. “Why, his notes?”

“His kidnapping, and the fact that EPF is here, tells me that he must’ve discovered something big.” He booted up the computer and before you could tell Donatello that you didn’t know the professor’s password, he had hacked his way in. He grabbed a flash drive from somewhere on his belt and began to drag and drop every file that looked relevant. “done.” He said.

“Good, we should probably go now.” Your thoughts filled with images of EPF guys experimenting on you, thinking you were an alien, and you couldn’t fight your anxiety anymore.

“Hey, you don’t have to be scared.” He said. “Even though you didn’t choose me to protect you, I promise I will keep you safe.”

Where did that come from? “I was going to choose you.” You said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I trust you, Donatello.”

“You can call me Donnie.” He said.

“Okay. Donnie.” You said.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

**The Second Chapter**

* * *

 

The warmth radiating off of Donatello now that he knew he was your first choice was akin to that of a cozy summer evening. Unfortunately, your gentle moment was cut short by the beam of a flashlight coming from the hall. Donatello reacted quickly, pulling you down to the ground where you huddled together beneath a science table. Wow. a metallic scent tickled at your nose. Was that Donatello? It was a nice aroma, a pleasant mix of turpentine, motor oil and lavender.

“From what I can tell there are at least two EPF goons in the hallway.” He whispered then held a finger to his lips, you could hear the goons approaching. You looked toward Donatello for a solution and he unsheathed his bo.

Wait a minute? Was he seriously thinking of fighting off gun-toting EPF guys with a stick? You snatched his wrist to stop him, but he shook his head and pointed toward a vent across the room, then jabbed his bo out, indicating his true plan. He wanted to escape through the vent, but one look at its perimeter told you that there was no way Donatello wouldn’t fit. At your questioning gaze, he gestured to himself and shook his head  _not me._ then pointed in your direction,  _you_

_No,_ you mouthed. There was no way you were going to leave him to deal with the EPF by himself. Donatello reached over and soothed out the worry wrinkles in your forehead with his fingers.  _Everything’s fine, trust me._

You gave him a nod of agreement and the two of you snuck over to the vent. Donatello stood up and thrust his bo downward, wedging the tip beneath the vent grille and used leverage to pop it out of the wall. You climbed into the vent and Donatello replaced the grille, not giving you a chance to change your mind. Man, you really didn’t like this. “But Donnie…”

“No buts.” He knelt down and gave you a smile, “Look, I appreciate your concern but I can handle the EPF, my first priority is keeping you safe.” He said. “I planted a communication device on the inside of your carapace, so we can keep in contact.” he explained. “Just go and no matter what you hear, I want you to keep going until you get away.”

The door burst open and Donatello stood up to block you from view, allowing you chance to escape unseen. You didn’t like this plan but what choice did you really have? You began crawling and only made it a couple of yards before you started hearing voices coming from the communication device.

 “Donatello. Of course,” came an unenthusiastic voice. “Why is it, whenever there is a threat to the earth, you Turtles are always there?”

“Coincidence?” came Donatello’s cheeky reply.

“Indeed,” replied the mystery voice. “Where are your brothers by the way? Surely you weren’t foolish enough to come here on your own.”

“Look. Bishop. I don’t want to fight you. It’s like I keep telling you, we are on the same team.” Donatello reasoned. “That being said, what’s the deal with Seal Team Six outside?”

“That’s strictly need-to-know,” said Bishop, “and guess what, you don’t have that kind of clearance.”

You continued your journey through the vent accompanied by the uneasiness in your stomach. This Bishop dude seemed calm and rational but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. You knew that Donatello was in trouble.

“I’m only going to ask you this once,” cautioned Bishop “what are you doing here?”

“That’s a little unfair don’t you think, why should I share if you aren’t going to?” Donatello asked. “Here’s an idea, how about we trade information. You go first.”

“Make all the jokes you want, it doesn’t matter, I’ll get all of my questions answered in due time. Under my brand of interrogation, eventually everyone talks.” You gasped, was this dude talking about torturing Donatello? Well, you certainly couldn’t let that happen.

 Distracted by this sudden realization, you failed to notice a weak vent connector and it gave way under your weight. You fell, through the ceiling, hitting your left shoulder full-force against a science table, dislocating it. You suppressed your urge to scream and wrapped your good hand around the joint in a futile attempt to ease the pain. You gritted your teeth. You had to pull yourself together. Donatello needed a distraction and you were the only one who could provide it.

A quick scan of your surroundings told you that you were in the dissection lab, not ideal but you searched the room for anything you could use, anyway. Off to the left was a glass cabinet filled with wet specimen. You opened the cabinet and frowned at the dissected remains of a frog, forever trapped inside a jar for all to see. It served as a reminder of what the EPF would reduce you and Donatello to if you didn’t escape.

You grabbed the frog jar and two other preserved animals, twine, a scalpel and a Bunsen burner, and went to work creating an improvised explosive device. Using the twine, you tied the specimen jars together (which wasn’t an easy task with one arm), then poked a few holes in the lids with the scalpel and set the bomb on top of the wire gauze. Finally, you placed the burner beneath the wire gauze and lit the flame. You only had a few minutes to get out of the room before your distraction became an accidental suicide.

You rushed over to the window and tried to open it only to discover that it was painted shut. Dang it! You looked back at your bomb and noticed a thin layer of vapor forming. You had to get out, now. But how? You saw a fire extinguisher in the corner but with one arm you couldn’t hope to swing it hard enough to break the glass.

“Hey, ____ you there? What happened earlier? Are you okay?” Donatello asked in a hushed tone.

“I’m fine… more or less… just found a really fast way out of the vent.” You answered. “Say, hypothetically, how would someone sneak out a window if its painted shut and they only have the use of one arm?”

“Well, they could just remove the silicone seal around the edges of the pane and the glass should fall right out.” He said. “Wait a minute… what happened to your arm?”

“Relax. It’s okay, it’s just a little bit… dislocated at the moment.”

“What!” he whispered sharply. “Stay where you are, I’ll come get you as soon as I can.”

“I’m fine, really.” You said. “But I’m creating a diversion for you so I’ll meet you outside.” You grabbed the scalpel and quickly cut through the silicone around the window and the pane fell away. Score! You jumped out the window just in time to avoid being blown to bits and huddled beneath the window to avoid shrapnel. Heh. Awesome.

After making sure the coast was clear you skirted along the edges of the building until you came to the school’s quad. The school gates were wide open so you psyched yourself up to make a run for it. You took one step but stopped when a ninja star embedded itself in the ground beneath your feet. What the? You looked up and saw Donatello’s silhouette standing on the rooftop of the neighboring building.

“There are two snipers on the roof above you. If you try to make that run you won’t make it far.” advised Donatello.

“How did you know I was going to make a run for it?”

“I have two reckless brothers, I know what it looks like when someone is about to do something stupid.” he said. “Give me a moment, I’ll take care of them.”

Donatello threw two well-aimed ninja stars at the snipers, jamming the barrel of each rifle so that they couldn’t fire. While the EPF snipers were trying to figure out what was going on, you made your way across the quad and out into the streets of New York. After running for a few blocks you ducked into an alley to catch your breath.

Donatello dropped down next to you. Startled, you began furiously swinging the scalpel at him, “Whoa! It’s just me.” He said, knocking the tiny knife from your hand with a well-placed block.

“Donnie?” Relief washed over you like a cold shower and you collapsed into his strong arms. He brought his arms up around you and gave you a reassuring squeeze. There was that lovely scent again. You wanted to take a deep breath but decided against it, he was a turtle, what the heck was wrong with you? You pulled away quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t find the action too strange.

“How did that happen?” he asked, nodding toward your dangling arm.

“I fell through the vent and hit it on the corner of a desk.” You admitted.

“Can I see it?” he asked, reaching out to touch it but you jerked away, you knew this trick.

“No, don’t touch it, it hurts.”

“I’m not going to do anything I just want to see.” A likely story.

“Well, you see with your eyes not your hands.” You pointed out cowering away from him.

“Okay, Okay.” He lifted his hands in surrender and changed the subject. “So that explosion. Was that, by any chance, the diversion you were talking about?” He asked, slowly making his way closer to you.

“Yeah, I sort of made an IED. I thought it would help you get away from that Bishop guy.”

“An IED?” he was baffled “That’s a life prison sentence. And, here you were scared of getting caught for just sneaking into the science building? I don’t understand you.” He said.

“Well, when it comes to life and death, some things are more important.” You said.

“That’s true.” He paused, lost in thought, his eyes continuously drifting toward your arm. “So your IED, tell me about it. I’m always interested in what people create.”

“Oh this is awesome. When I fell I landed in the dissection lab and when I saw the wet specimen I remembered that formaldehyde is explosive.” You explained.

“Of course, formalin is used to preserve wet specimen. So, you heated up the solution and waited for the vapor to interact with the fire and” He grabbed hold your dislocated arm without warning and on the word, “BOOM!” quickly shoved your arm back into place with an audible and very painful pop.

You cried out as white hot pain surged through your body and you glared at him, feeling betrayed. “I’m sorry but I had to do that.” He soothed a finger over your shoulder and it sent a tingle down to the tips of your fingers. “You okay?” his genuine concern was proof that he meant you no real harm and your anger dissipated.

“Yeah…Thanks” You hissed through the remainder of the pain.

“I should be thanking you. Your distraction worked and I was able to get away from Bishop because of you.” He said.

You beamed, well that made it all worth it. “All in a day’s work.” You said.

“Mm-hmm, just don’t make it a habit. I wouldn’t want you to actually lose a limb.” He smiled then held out his hand to you. “Let’s go home.” You agreed quickly; that was the best plan he had all night.

The two of you headed back down into the sewers and heard a couple new voices coming from the lair. “April’s here.” Donatello said, dropping your hand. You couldn’t help but notice his pace quicken and you felt a flash of jealousy but it only lasted for a second.

Pushing through the turnstiles you saw April O’Neal and Casey Jones sitting with the other Turtles in the conversation pit. Just what were they doing here? Not that you particularly minded them as people, it was just that they usually hung around with Irma. If they happened to mention you to her then you’d be in serious trouble. Thankfully, there was a low probability of them recognizing you for two reasons. One, because you were a turtle now. And, two because, between balancing high school and college work you didn’t have much time for social interaction.

“Neo-Turtle!” Michelangelo was at your side in an instant, lifting you up in favor of carrying you down to meet the others. “Epic, now that D and Neo-Turtle are here, we can have an awesome game night.”

“Game night? I’m really tired.” Even though game night sounded really fun you, didn’t want to risk having to talk to April and Casey more than was necessary. “I’ve had a long night, I don’t think I’m up for playing games.”

Mikey pulled out his secret weapon and his eyes grew into large blue pools of sadness, it was the most powerful puppy dog eyes attack you’d ever seen. “Play with us, please?” You’re resolve crumbled when he dragged out the  _e_ in please.

“Okay,” You caved, “One game.”

“Score.” He said.

April shook her head at Mikey’s antics and said, “Hi, I’m April and this is Casey.” She gestured toward the hockey loving teen and he gave you a curt nod. “The turtles told us about your mutation and about your missing mentor. We’ll do everything we can to help you.”

“Thank you.” You said.

April tilted her head to the side, curiosity written all over her features. “You know, this might sound weird but you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

**The Third Chapter**

* * *

 

“Greeting’s Turtles, Sir Malachi hath arrived!” Your attention was drawn toward the lair’s entrance, leaving April’s question unanswered. A mutant sparrow dressed in medieval garb hopped over the turnstiles with a flourish.  The tip of his claw staff hit the ground as he landed, as if he could possibly draw more attention to himself. “Let us enjoy-eth a rousing game of M&M.”

“Nah-uh, now way.” Raphael threw his hands up in the air, “I ain’t playing if you’re gonna talk like that all night.”

“Alright, fine.” Sir Malachi said, dropping his over-the-top Ren. Faire persona.

“M&M? You mean, Mazes and Mutants?” You said. “Seriously, that’s what we’re playing?” Suddenly, you weren’t so tired anymore, you’d always wanted to play a roleplaying game. “I am  **so**  in.”

A little while later, eight of you were seated around the makeshift table in the kitchen, you were sandwiched between Donatello and Michelangelo. As Maze Master, Sir Malachi sat at the head of the table behind a cardboard wall with a mural of the game painted on it.

“Okay, ______ thou art—” Sir Malachi began, but Raphael cleared his throat in an irritated manner, “I-I mean,  **you are**  Dragonborn and you came to join our adventurers in the last level of the maze when Sir Angelo released you from captivity. Honor is of utmost importance to you so you decided to help our heroes escape the maze.”

“Got it.” you said.

“Last time, our heroes fell through the floor above and landed in a hexagonal room; in the room there are two exits, one leads to a hallway and the other is blocked by a gate.” Malachi leaned over and drew the room, as he described it, on an erasable board in the center of the table. “Above the gate are four gems, each one represents a different element, Fire, Wind, Earth and Forest. On each of the remaining walls are portraits of different dimensions that coincide with the gems above the gated door.”

When Malachi was finished drawing out the play area he sat back and tapped his claw staff against the ground, releasing a light layer of smoke that grew thicker and thicker by the second. Soon, the entire kitchen was enveloped in a smoke so thick you couldn’t see an inch in front of your face. Panic threatened to engulf you but was quickly assuaged when you felt a large hand grab hold of yours.

“It’s alright.” Came Donatello’s soothing voice, “It’s only an illusion.” You understood what he meant when the smoke cleared to reveal that you were now standing in the hexagonal room that Malachi had just finished describing.

“How is this possible?” you asked.

“It came with Malachi’s mutation, he has the power to bring games to life. When we met him, he just wanted someone to play with, he went about it the wrong way but we came to an understanding and now we have game night and let him use his power to make the games more immersive.” And immersive it was, the sights, sounds and smells were close to, if not, the real thing.

“All right, guys.” Leonardo said, he was already examining the gems above the gated door. “I bet these light up when we complete a task.”

“Yeah, maybe we have to face whatever’s in these paintings.” Michelangelo said, and before anyone could stop him he pressed on the engraved nameplate beneath the forest portrait.

Suddenly, the portrait released a magnificent light and the forest scene inside came to life. Several large vines slithered out and snaked along the ground. One wrapped around Michelangelo’s ankle, yanking him into the portrait. Caught off guard and unprepared, the others were subsequently pulled in as well.

Even you were so distracted by what was happening that you failed to notice an errant vine coming to claim your own ankle. “Watch out!” Donatello dove at you, pushing you down to the ground and out of the way just in time. The two of you rolled into the hallway, across a threshold the vines could not cross. Pinned beneath Donatello, you watched as the vine retreated into the portrait.

“Thanks.” You breathed, “You saved me.”

“Yeah, I know it’s just a game but I’m still your guardian.” Through his smile you detected a hint of embarrassment. Yeah, the line was a bit cheesy but it made you feel high just the same.

Donatello helped you to your feet just in time for you to witness the portrait become solid once more, a clear sign that you would not be permitted entrance. “Guess we won’t be going that way.” You said, not that you wanted to.

“I guess we should continue down this hallway.” Donatello said, “Maybe we can find something that will help us.” And that’s when you noticed that the hallway didn’t quite match the rest of the maze as it was made of sleek white walls that carried currents of violet electricity through them.

You and Donatello followed the currents to the end of the hall, where you found a science lab. It was futuristic in design but the thousands of hieroglyphs that coated its walls gave it an ancient feeling.  

At the back of the lab, connected to a computer terminal in the center of the room, were three large ooze filled glass chambers. Resting peacefully inside each chamber were three mutants, who Donatello quickly named. “Dogpound, Fishface and Tigerclaw.”

“I don’t like this room. Let’s go back.” You said. Donatello nodded in agreement, but as soon as the two of you took a step to leave, a large stone wall fell from the ceiling effectively trapping you inside. “It’s a trap, do something, Donnie.”

“Me?” he asked.

“Yeah, you’re a wizard, Donnie.” You said doing your best impression of Harry Potter’s Hagrid, “Use your magic to get us out of here.” You said.

“I would but this room is comprised of technology so my magic is suppressed.” He explained.

“Well, what about the computer?” you asked as you took a seat at the terminal. You touched the mouse in order to revive the computer and it opened up, asking you for a password. “We need a password. Can you hack into it?”

“If this was real life, yeah, but, unfortunately, in this world my character can’t hack computers so we’ll need to figure out the password on our own.”

“That could take forever.” You said. “Where do we even start?”

“Well, remember this is a game so the password should be attainable, there are probably clues in this room.” He said.

As you went to get up and help Donatello look for clues, a chain wrapped around your waist, trapping you in your seat. You struggled but couldn’t free yourself. Then, the terminal did a quarter turn, activating a beacon above Dogpound’s chamber. The beacon bathed the lab in red light while the ooze drained, coating the floor in glowing green goop.

“Donnie… I don’t like this.” You didn’t know how right you were to feel that way until Dogpound burst through the glass. He pounded his fist into his other hand and snarled at Donatello. “I  **really** don’t like this.” You said.

“It’ll be okay, I’ll keep him busy while you figure out that password.” Dogpound took a mighty leap over you and stuck his leg out in an attempt to kick Donatello, but he easily rolled to the left to avoid it.

Turning to your task, you noticed that the green goop had spread over the ground, getting caught in the grout lines of the tilted floor. Looking closely you saw that the goop reacted with the electric grid beneath the floor, revealing a strange symbol. You then looked at the keyboard in front of you, sure enough the symbol was depicted on one of the keys

“Donnie, you aren’t going to like this but I think we have to break open the rest of these chambers if we want the password.” You said.

“You’re right, I don’t like it.” He said, jamming the end of his magic staff into Dogpound’s stomach, which did nothing but anger the beast further. Dogpound wheeled back and threw a punch at Donatello at which point Donatello defected it with his staff. “Luckily this wand is about the size of my bo, my magic might be suppressed but my ninja skills aren’t.”

It was the first time you’d seen Donatello fight and it took your breath away, his movements were fluid as he twirled his staff this way and that, deflecting every attack Dogpound threw at him. Then Donatello switched to offense, stopping his bo before wheeling back to thrust the tip of his staff into Dogpound’s chest. The dog mutant let out a pathetic yelp before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.  

You didn’t have time to celebrate because the terminal did another quarter turn, releasing Fishface from his chamber. You typed in the second symbol as it appeared and turned your attention back to Donatello. Still in his death frenzy, Donatello made the first move and knocked Fishface across the room, the fish hit his head on the wall behind him and vanished.

“Holy, crap.” You said. “That was amazing.”

“Don’t get too excited, those two are child’s play compared to Tigerclaw.” Donatello warned. “Once that chamber opens, type in the password as fast as you can, Okay?” Duh, like you were going to do anything else.

The computer turned once more, your gaze remained focused on the ground beneath the chamber, your fingers hovering over the keys. You were ready. Lightning speed was the name of the game.

Tigerclaw burst through the chamber and rushed Donatello, grabbing him so hard that he lost hold of his magic staff. The momentum of the attack sent the two of them sailing across the room. You looked back to see that Tigerclaw had Donatello pinned to the wall by the neck.

“Donnie!” You quickly typed in the third symbol as it was revealed to you. The stone slab lifted and the chain that bound you fell away. You were finally free.

Wasting no time, you got out of your seat and grabbed Donatello’s wand on your way to liberated him from Tigerclaw’s hold. Lifting the staff high above your head you delivered a few stout whacks to the back of Tigerclaw’s head. It wasn’t enough to defeat him but he did release Donatello while he wheeled around to face you.

“Nice, kitty.” You said while backing away from Tigerclaw.

Tigerclaw hissed and leapt at you and just as he was about to scratch your face off an arrow hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to disintegrate. “Got’em!” You turned to see Michelangelo standing in the now opened doorway, his bow still aimed toward its target.

* * *

  **Later**

* * *

 

Upon Donatello’s insistence, you were given Donatello’s bed in which to sleep while he opted the sleep in his lab. Too tired to argue, you took him up on his offer and snuggled beneath his blankets, secretly appreciating the scent they gave off. “Good thing the others managed to get out of that portrait before we became cat food.” You said. “I honestly can’t remember a time when I’ve had so much fun.”

“You’re welcome to play with us any time.” Donatello offered. It was a nice gesture but it only made you sad to think that all of this would have to come to an end eventually. Even if you were welcome after you changed back, life would return to normal and you wouldn’t have time to join them for game night anyway.

The pain must’ve been written on your face because the next thing you knew, Donatello was seated at the edge of his bed, “is your arm bothering you?” he asked, mistaking your emotional pain for physical pain.  

“It’s a little numb,” you said, which wasn’t a lie, “it’s not a big deal.” But Donatello was having none of it, he held out his hand in a silent gesture that told you to give him your hand.

You pulled your hand from beneath the covers and dipped your fingers into his palm. He flipped your hand so it was palm up and ran a gentle finger down your forefinger to the center of your palm. A pleasurable buzzing tickled at the base of your neck as he did the same with your other fingers. “Can you feel that?” You nodded.

Only, what you were feeling was more than the sensation of touch, but that familiar ache within your heart. Because, of course you’d fall in love with a mutant turtle; not only that, he was a mutant turtle with a crush on April. How could you possibly compete with that?


End file.
